Wedding Superstitions
Have you ever spilled salt, then tossed some over your shoulder to overt bad luck? What about avoiding walking under a ladder? We all have grown up hearing superstitions. Some of them are based on reality, such as the ladder, while others are purely fictional. Either way, people have very strong beliefs about superstitions, charms, and portents. Of course, superstitions abound when it comes to weddings and marriages!
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Marriage Month
Some folks felt the month you choose for your wedding had impact on the marriage.
“Married when the year is new, he’ll be loving, kind and true;
When February birds do mate, you wed nor dread your fate;
If you wed when March winds blow, joy and sorrow both you’ll know;
Marry in April when you can, joy for Maiden and for Man;
Marry in the month of May, and you’ll surely rue the day;
Marry when June roses grow, over land and sea you will go;
Those who in July do wed, must labour for their daily bred;
Whoever wed in August be, many a change is sure to see;
Marry in September’s shrine, your living will be rich and fine;
If in October you do marry, love will come but riches tarry;
If you wed in bleak November, only joys will come, remember;
When December snows fall fast, marry and true love will last”
This poem makes me glad we were married in December.
- In Roman times, May was considered an unlucky month to marry because the Feast of the Dead and the Festival of the Goddess of Chastity both occurred in May.
- June’s popularity as the chosen wedding month is really based on earlier times when bathing was not at all popular and/or considered dangerous to a person’s health. The annual (yes, ANNUAL) bath was taken in May, typically. Since everyone smell fairly fresh at that time of the year, it made May and June popular months for special events. With the superstition that May was unlucky, June became the main choice. In addition, the month of June is named after the Roman goddess Juno, the goddess of the hearth and home, and patron of wives. Thus, June was considered as a very good month in which to marry.
- Since lent is a time for abstinence, the rhyme, “Marry in Lent, live to repent” arose.
- Have you ever heard the phrase, “the bride wore a green gown”? It was used to imply the belief that the young lady was promiscuous before marriage. The image is that the young lady would roll in the grass with her young man. Thus her gown would have grass stains on it. Of course, nowadays, brides choose wedding dresses of many colours, so the bride actually may be wearing a green gown.
- Mirrors are believed to affect luck. A final look in the mirror right before the bride leaves her home for the ceremony will bring good luck. However, if she looks in a mirror once again before the ceremony, her luck will tarnish to bad! Hmmm…I wonder how this affects those of us who are having destination weddings! I also have heard that the final look in the mirror should be before the bride is completely dressed. Once she is, she shouldn’t look again. Many brides will leave one last thing undone until the moment before the ceremony, such as leaving a button undone on their glove or the last hook on their dress.
- Some brides will leave a final stitch on the dress undone until the day of the wedding for good luck, because it is believed to be bad luck for the bride to wear her complete outfit before the wedding day.